Joe Root and Harry Brook hit what looked to be series-clinching centuries in England’s classic fifth Test decider before India stormed back to set up an agonising day five finish.
Facing a towering target of 374 at the Kia Oval, England looked to be home and dry on 301 for three but Brook (111) and Root (105) both stumbled with victory in sight.
Jacob Bethell also fell to a dreadful shot as they faltered to 339 for six when bad light and rain intervened – needing another 35 amid unbearable tension and increasingly unplayable bowling.
They had been all set to peel off perhaps the most audacious chase of the Bazball era, and the second highest in their history, with apparent ease when they fell foul of a nasty twist in the tale.
Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton will be the men at the frontline on Monday morning, with the live prospect of Chris Woakes being needed to bat at number 11 with a badly dislocated shoulder.
England’s late stumble started when Brook threw his bat and wicket away, hurling the kitchen sink at Akash Deep and skying a catch to mid-off. Then the jittery Bethell produced an ugly swipe to drag down his stumps, before Root succumbed to spiralling tension under leaden skies.
An India team who looked like they had thrown in the towel a couple of hours earlier were now flying, working Root over with a series of big lbw appeals then having him caught behind for 105 as the pressure got to the calmest player in the England set-up.
Things had been following an entirely different script as he Brook shared a 195-run stand and Root looked primed for the central role. Upon reaching his 39th Test ton, Root produced a white headband featuring Graham Thorpe’s name and likeness and wore it while looking to the skies.
Thorpe, one of Root’s batting mentors, took his own life last year and the headbands have raised more than £150,000 for the MIND charity this week.
India now have a chance to leave with a 2-2 draw and avoid a bitter case of deja vu. Having watched England make 378 for three at Edgbaston in 2022 and 373 for five at Headingley in the first match of this series, they were in grimly familiar territory as Brook and Root feasted.
India dismissing Zak Crawley with the last act of Saturday evening and made a promising start by removing Ben Duckett (54) and Ollie Pope (27) to make it 106 for three in a testing morning session.
Prasidh Krishna, gamely filling the considerable boots of the rested Jasprit Bumrah, came desperately close to pinning Root lbw for just three but saw a huge appeal rejected. There was no DRS call and although ball-tracking showed it clipping leg stump, it would not have been enough to overturn the decision.
India’s fielders were chirpy as Brook stepped to the middle but his arrival brought a screeching gear shift. He went for all-out aggression, at one stage lashing 27 runs in eight balls.
That included a crunch through midwicket and a lavish six over cover off Deep before a near miss at fine-leg, risking his wicket but picking up six more as a mortified Siraj carried a catch over the boundary rope.
A combination of defensive fields, passive captaincy and tired bodies left India short of answers as Brook and Root ruthlessly milked the situation, scoring a steady stream of low-risk runs and waiting for the chance to hit fours.
A ragged full toss from Ravindra Jadeja and a woeful misfield from Deep, who kicked the ball over the ropes after declining to use his hands, suggested the game was up as the required runs dropped to double figures.
Brook looked to speed up after reaching a well-deserved hundred, lashing Deep for back-to-back fours, but chipped a bizarre catch to mid-off as he launched his bat in the opposite direction.
It was now England’s turn to have a crisis of confidence. Root took tea on 98 and safely ticked off his hundred, but the sense of safe progress evaporated as soon as Bethell paid for a rush of blood to the head. Stuck on five from 30 balls, he aimed a flat-batted swipe at Krishna and dragged down his middle stump.
Suddenly India had the ball nipping around and Root in their sights. He survived three lbw appeals in rapid succession amid stifling tension, then wafted carelessly outside off to edge Krishna behind.
With 37 still needed and the pressure peaking, he was furious with himself. India held all the cards when the weather turned and both sides will resume with hopes of a famous win.
